Port Eynon to Nicholaston Farm

Our second day on The Gower, I awoke quite tired, but not as tired as poor A&A because their lilo had developed a puncture! They went off to Swansea to get a new footpump, having repaired the bed. Luckily, that was to prove a success, otherwise we’d have had to abandon the trip. So with the weather gloomy again, but with the promise of a better afternoon, we decided to put off our walk until after lunch which we had in The Ship at Port Eynon.

Alec has a thing about walking on sand. So although the WCP went behind the dunes between Port Eynon and Horton … we had to walk along the sand. Much grumbling and moaning from me – I hate walking on sand. We soon got beyond Horton however and enjoyed the low-level cliff walk looking down on the wave-cut platform and with me in my element describing solifluction terraces, periglaciation and abandoned cliffs. I may have ended up in computing, but my heart and mind has always been that of a geographer/geologist!

Gower (13 of 33).jpg

Looking back towards Port Eynon …

Gower (14 of 33).jpg

… and the WCP diversion near Slade where the path has slipped into the sea.

Gower (15 of 33).jpg

We were then not far from Oxwich and then the drizzled came down, heavier and heavier by the minute! We just had to stop at the Oxwich Bay Hotel to get some respite (for me – Doom Bar). We had a great chat with a couple from Northern Ireland who were camping nearby and if we’d had transport outside would have quite happily stayed there longer than we did. But we had to get across Oxwich Bay and the stream at it’s eastern end …

Gower (16 of 33).jpg

… before tackling Nicholaston Burrows which thankfully were not as exhausting as the ones at Penmaen the day before. Once again we enjoyed the wildflowers at the end of our 7 mile walk …

Gower (17 of 33).jpg

Gower (18 of 33).jpg

… but I, for one, was very pleased to have a lovely warm shower and dry out after climbing the hill to the campsite, before settling back for another lovely evening of food and drink.

Mumbles to Nicholaston Farm

The 2015 Wales Coast Path season opened on the 13th July when Alec & Angie, Jenny and myself went down to Nicholaston Farm Camp site to do a few walks and try and get as far round The Gower as we could in four days. The weather was not with us as we set off on the first walk from Mumbles.

We didn’t leave until after mid-day and it was damp and grey as we posed outside The Pilot. Believe it or not – we didn’t stop there, or have a drink all day! We’d previously been to our campsite at Nicholaston Farm to enable Alec & Angie to pitch their tent and for us to get our pitch for #duettovan.

Gower (1 of 33).jpg

Off along the promenade we went past the lifeboat station and round the headland before we descended down into Limeslade Bay. Not much thought of photo taking at this stage. I’d decided to only walk with the iPhone today, so the pictures that follow are included to record the walk, not to represent “good images”. The light was terrible! We were soon in Langland Bay – not much dawdling at this stage as we pressd on through the gloom.

Gower (2 of 33).jpg

Leaving Langland Bay behind us, we walked past Snaple Point …

Gower (3 of 33).jpg

… and on towards Whiteshell Point.

Gower (4 of 33).jpg

Climbing up to Whiteshell Point …

… and then we were heading towards Caswell Bay. No photos of this as we headed inland following the high tide path, before it dropped back to rejoin the main path above Brandy Cove and then on towards Pwlldu Bay.

Gower (6 of 33).jpg

The walk was going well at this stage. The clouds almost seemed to be lifting as we walked a rather muddy and slippery path around the National Trust managed Pwlldu Head. We followed the path along the edge of the cliffs towards Southgate – omitting the pub on our right that we passed – and headed for Penmaen Burrows.

Gower (7 of 33).jpg

It has to be said that up to this point things had not gone too badly. The weather hadn’t been kind to us, the ground had been a bit slippery in places and we’d made good time. This was all about to change as we scrambled across, down and through Penmaen Burrows.

Gower (8 of 33).jpg

It’s difficult to describe just how sapping sand dunes can be at the end of a walk. The size of them is quite amazing!

Gower (9 of 33).jpg

And then, just as you think you’re getting out of them and you’re not far from the end of your walk, there’s another sequence to clamber down.

Gower (10 of 33).jpg

On the plus side, we did see some lovely wildflowers, mainly geranium, in this section …

Gower (11 of 33).jpg

Gower (12 of 33).jpg

… before we crossed the stepping stones …

… and started the last climb up through the Burrows and on to the coastal road, to then drop back into the campsite by its back footpath entrance. We walked about 10 miles. It took us over 5 hours. We were exhausted at the end. We ate round at Alec & Angie’s tent and enjoyed a delicious home made blackcurrent tart.